You are right there is probably more to the story, but saying something like that can qualify as kidnapping/abduction. Remember when OJ got arrested for stealing sports memorabilia- he was charged with that because they said a phrase like that. If you are physically preventing someone from leaving illegally, that can be abduction.

It's not really a bias though, it's like some weird law made in 1872 that you cant have an ice cream cone in your pocket in Oklahoma or something. Then someone does it and it has to be called because it's in the rulebook. Then and only then, people know about it and it gets changed.